EngSolutions RCBAnalysis & Design of Reinforced Concrete Buildings for Earthquake and Wind Forces EngSolutions RCB is a structural engineering-software for 3D analysis and design of reinforced concrete buildings. EngSolutions RCB consists of several modules integrated into an exceptionally easy to use software package. Through EngSolutions RCB ’s graphical interface, it is possible to easily create, analyze and design complex building structures for earthquake and wind forces, according to different building codes. Creation of the structure, assignment of element properties, definition of supports and application of loads, are all performed interactively. Hence, there is no need for an input file. Generation of loads is fully automated releasing the engineer from lengthy manual calculations. Vertical floor loads can be automatically converted to span loads on adjoining beams and walls. Wind forces and earthquake forces can be generated automatically according to different international building codes. Once a building structure is created, the engineer can make changes, such as change coordinates, add or remove elements, add or remove stories, modify element properties, change support conditions, change loading, etc., and see the influence of these changes on the analysis and design results. The final building may be unsymmetrical and arbitrarily irregular in plan. Torsional behavior of the floors and interstory compatibility of the floors are properly modeled. The solution satisfies complete three-dimensional force equilibrium and displacement compatibility at the nodes. Modeling of partial diaphragms, such as mezzanines and openings is possible. It is possible also to model cases with multiple diaphragms at each level, allowing analyzing buildings consisting of several towers, rising from a common base structure at the lower levels. The program allows modeling the incremental construction of tall buildings, checking lateral story drifts, computing redundancy factors, and designing structural elements according to various seismic codes. The main technical features of EngSolutions RCB are the following: • • Operation under Windows XP/2000/98 based personal computers Automatic generation of seismic forces, static equivalent, spectral, and time-history, according to numerous international building codes, including: USA IBC-2003, ASCE 7-2005, UBC-97, UBC-94, NERPH-97, NERPH-85, Mexico RCDF-2004, GUAD-97, CFE-93, Panama REP-04 and REP-93, Colombia NSR-98 and CCCSR-84, Venezuela COVENIN-82, Peru E030-2000, Ecuador CEC-01 and CEC-93, Chile NCH433.Of93, Dominican Republic DNRS/SEOPC-80. Complete library of earthquake records. Automatic generation of wind forces, according to various international codes, including: USA ASCE7-95, ASCE 7- 88, UBC- 94, Mexico RCDF-87, CFE-93, Dominican Republic DNRS/SEOPC. Accurate modeling of torsion effects: The engineer may specify different design eccentricities based on inherent and accidental eccentricities, and may choose from different methods of modal combination available, including SAV, SRSS, CQC, 1/2 SAV+SRSS, and 0.25 SAV + 0.75 SRSS. Automatic distribution of floor loads to span loads on adjoining beams and walls, based on the actual analysis of the floor grid system. Various floor systems can be considered, including one-way and two-way slab systems as well as one-way and two-way joist systems. Automated incremental analysis to model the construction sequence of high-rise buildings. Instead of applying gravity loads in a single step, the analysis can model the sequential addition of floors to the structure. Graphical display of lateral inter-story drifts for checking compliance with building codes. • • • • • • in the case of rectangular buildings. The effects of the finite dimensions of the beams and columns on the stiffness of the structure are automatically included in the analysis. longitudinal and transverse axes. 1990). beams and braces are modeled as prismatic elements. Seismic design of beams and columns: according to numerous international codes including ACI318-05. Creation of DXF files. RCDF-04. and walls with arbitrarily located openings. Inclined columns and walls can be also modeled displacing their end nodes correspondingly. Design and design check for structural steel members according to the Load and Resistance Factor Design (LRFD) methods of AISC and RCDF. discontinuous shear walls. or radial and circumferential axes. NASA Contractor Report 4282. Columns. Aminpour. elements that are part of the gravity load resisting system and elements are part of both systems. . Shear and bending can act in any two perpendicular planes. which may be subjected to axial and shear forces and torsion and bending moments. • • • • • • • • IDEALIZATION The EngSolutions RCB building is idealized as an assemblage of column. NASA (M. Column axes are defined through an architectural grid of either. Inertia modification-factors for analysis based on cracked sections. therefore. Automated design of shear-walls risk zones. ACI-318-99.• • • • • • New finite element formulations for accurate modeling of buildings with shear walls. beam. any beams or columns that frame into the element in the plane of the wall will receive full continuity without any special modeling. NSR-98. Automatic re-sizing of footings. formed by intersecting floor planes and vertical column axes. brace and wall elements. A panel element is implemented to model general 3D shear wall configurations. In-plane rotational stiffness is modeled implicitly in the formulation of the element. Several panel elements may be used to define a planar or 3D wall. The panel element is based on the quadrilateral assumed-stress hybrid shell element with rotational or “drilling” degrees of freedom developed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The panel element allows modeling both. in the case of cylindrical buildings. Direct Formulation of a 4-Node Hybrid Shell Element With Rotational Degrees of Freedom. combined footings and mats. continuous footings for walls. The basic building geometry is defined with reference to a simple tri-dimensional grid system. including spread footings for columns. structural walls and nonbearing walls. such as C-shaped core elevator walls. Automatic detailing of steel reinforcement for beams Buildings can be modeled as supported by theoretical dimensionless nodal supports or by rigid footings. The building can be at any location and angle with respect to the tri-dimensional grid system. rigid in their own plane. Member releases can be specified near the ends of members. Design of spread and continuous footings. interconnected by horizontal floor diaphragm slabs. that includes dimensioning of boundary elements in high seismic Boundary elements for shear walls can be design either according to the stress design method of the ACI-318-99 or to the strain method of UBC-97 and ACI-318-05. Structural elements can be separated into elements that are part of the lateral force resisting system only. Specification of member end-releases Automatic generation of load combinations: according to several international codes. Floor level 6 . and floor levels. which define the plan view of the model. The geometry of building models in EngSolutions RCB is based on a grid system defined by an architectural grid system of axes. which define the elevation of the model.GEOMETRY The EngSolutions RCB software includes Wizards that allow creating complex building structures easily with minimum user input. Defining building geometry based on architectural axes. This three-dimensional grid is used to define the location of all structural elements. Changing coordinates of nodes on a floor-by-floor basis. Floor level 2 Figure 1b. Figure 1a. as well as slab panels not supported along all its 4 edges. such as dead load (DL). The above procedure is general and can handle irregular slab panels. superimposed dead load. Structural Engineer A. wind load (WL). reinforcement direction. by specifying separation between axes. Vertical slab loads can be automatically converted to span loads on adjoining beams and walls. Puerto Rico) Most building models can be created from a rectangular grid system of longitudinal and transversal axes. . Each slab panel is discretized into a grid of ‘tiles’. The computed slab shears are transformed into equivalent uniformly distributed loads on the supporting beams and walls. The distribution of floor loads is based on tributary areas. There can be up to 15 independent load cases. Loads can also be created automatically. Then the coordinates of the axis intersections are edited to accommodate the real geometry of the building. members and walls. slab thickness. First. and values of uniform live load. LOADS AND LOAD CASES Loads in EngSolutions RCB are grouped into load cases.Figure 1c. allowing the creation of complex tridimensional building systems with a limited number of axes as shown in Figure 1. live load (LL). earthquake load (EQ). based on the load properties assigned to each slab. Wind and seismic loads can be created automatically according to various building codes. 3D-view (Faro del Saber Library. These properties include the type of floor system. an orthogonal grid system is created. snow load (SL). Loads for any load case can be generated manually through graphical mouse interaction. etc. Muns. Load cases are independent loadings for which the structure is analyzed internally. The coordinates of nodes can be varied from floor to floor. Manual loads can be applied to nodes. Figure 2. Robert & Associates. Time history analysis (Sky Loft Tower. Structural Engineer J. Puerto Rico) . elements internal forces. EngSolutions RCB allows three types of seismic analyses: static equivalent analysis. along with a limit story-drift ratio (story-drift divided by story-height). There can be up to 150 load combinations. An example of a load combination is: 1. back face). and moments. The program shows column axes in different colors. torsion moment diagram. front face. depending on whether or not the amplified relative story drift ratio exceeds the specified limit value. ANALYSIS EngSolutions RCB performs finite element analyses that provide solutions in terms of nodal displacements. mid-plane. which is always printed in the EngSolutions RCB main graphic window. frequencies and modal participation factors are obtained using the Lançzos method with selective orthogonalization. ANALYSIS RESULTS EngSolutions RCB provides interactive graphic display of analytical results including the static deformed shape of the building. support reactions. Once all Load cases to be considered have been generated EngSolutions RCB allows the user to automatically generate a set of load combinations as required by the selected building codes. where DL is the dead load and LL is the live load. The displayed results correspond to the load case or load combination currently active.7LL. shear force diagram. shear ratio stress. Mode shapes. EngSolutions RCB also includes a command for the graphical display of story drifts (lateral displacement of one level relative to the level below).LOAD COMBINATIONS Load combinations are the loading conditions for which a building structure is designed. spectral analysis.4DL + 1. The program computes the rigid segments of members to account for their finite size and computes the buckling loads of columns. which allows immediate check of compliance with local building codes. and mode shapes. and time-history analysis. wall internal forces. bending moment diagram. axial force diagram. The user may quickly change the active load case or load combination by clicking with the mouse its label. Analysis results can be presented for any load case or for any load combination. DESIGNING STRUCTURAL ELEMENTS Structural elements can be designed in accordance to the Strength Design Method of Building Code Requirements for Structural Concrete (ACI 318-05/02/99) and other international building codes. EngSolutions RCB performs a Modes/Frequency Analysis that provides the solution for the free vibration response of the building in terms of its three-dimensional mode shapes and natural frequencies. . Load combinations are assembled as combinations of the load cases considered. EngSolutions RCB computes the required steel reinforcement for any concrete section considering all design load combinations. The user may specify a displacement amplification factor to magnify drifts. story drifts. wall stresses (resultants. The user is allowed selecting 1) the order of the analysis ⎯linear versus P-delta analysis⎯ and 2) the analysis type ⎯a conventional one-step total gravity analysis versus an automated incremental step-wise gravity analysis. depending on the required amount of steel. T. beams. Elements with insufficient cross section are marked in red. The program includes design for various section shapes (W. The Steel design command includes command buttons for automatically resizing columns. Lateral story drift ratio (Sky Loft Tower) DESIGN RESULTS The design process is graphically displayed in EngSolutions RCB. M. Figure 5. the designer can clearly see which elements need to be resized. and braces. C.Although EngSolutions RCB is a mainly software for concrete design it includes commands for design and design check of steel members. 2L. S. which is included in EngSolutions RCB. etc) created manually or imported from the AISC library. Elements are drawn as they are designed in different colors. P. This way. In . L. after activating the Design Results command.engsolutionsinc. APPLICATIONS A catalog containing selected models from projects in different countries that have been analyzed and designed with the structural software EngSolutions RCB can be downloaded from: http://www.net/public/61ekmdqcu6 For further information please contact: EngSolutions. After the design process is finished. At: Ricardo E. EngSolutions RCB computes for all the designed elements. the volume of concrete and weight of steel required. the user can display detailed design results for any element just by selecting it with the mouse.com www. Ph.D.box.com . Barbosa. FL 33328 Tel: (954) 370-6603 Fax: (954) 370-0150 Email: RCBeinfo@aol. Lauderdale. Ft. which allows making cost analyses for various structural solutions. 8170 SW 29th Ct.addition. Inc.